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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. shower — rain
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. spring — a coil
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bark — to shout
  14. mug — a face
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fine — high quality
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. mug — a cup
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fine — all right
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. mug — to rob

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com